Semiauto pistol - Forgotten Weapons

Viet Cong Handmade Luger Lookalike

January 27, 2016 Ian McCollum 51

In the continuing occasional series on crude handmade firearms, we have an entry sent to me by a reader on Facebook (thanks!). It’s a Vietnamese Luger lookalike, which was being sold by Arundel Militaria in […]

Swedish Hamilton Trials Pistol (Video)

January 21, 2016 Ian McCollum 23

The Hamilton was a handgun entered into the Swedish military pistol trials of 1903, where it competed against guns like the Luger and Colt/Browning 1903. The Hamilton was a simply blowback action chambered for 6.5mm […]

Grant Hammond .45ACP Trials Pistol

January 14, 2016 Ian McCollum 33

The Grant Hammond .45 pistol is a gun which was too late to take part in the major 1907 US military pistol trials, and which was instead presented proactively to the military in hopes of […]

Schlegelmilch Automatic Pistol

January 6, 2016 Ian McCollum 25

Aside from being one of the more unfortunately-named early repeating pistols, the Schlegelmilch is also one of the earliest and more unusual mechanically. It also the only example I am familiar with of a pistol […]

Savage .45 ACP Pistols – History & Disassembly (Video)

December 28, 2015 Ian McCollum 24

In the US pistol trials of 1907 that eventually led to the adoption of the Colt/Browning Model 1911, the two strongest competitors to the Browning design were the Luger and the Savage. Luger declined the […]

Knoble Automatic Pistol, Cal .30 (Video)

December 17, 2015 Ian McCollum 35

The Knoble in .45 caliber was one of the pistols in the US pistol trials of 1907. Unfortunately for Mr. Knoble, his pistol was deemed to crude for the Ordnance Board to consider even test […]

Savage Automatic Pistols: Overview (Video)

December 14, 2015 Ian McCollum 30

Today I am taking a look at Savage automatic pistols as a general group. Savage produced about a quarter million pistols in both .32 and .380 caliber, divided between the models 1907, 1915, and 1917. […]

Sturmgewehrs: The Original and the HMG Reproduction

December 8, 2015 Ian McCollum 22

While I was busy posting RIA videos last month, my friend Karl and I traveled down to Atlanta to visit Hill & Mac Gunworks. They are making a reproduction StG-44 rifle with a number of […]

German Naval P04 Luger at RIA

December 1, 2015 Ian McCollum 24

Most everyone is familiar with the Luger pistol – it is one of the most iconic handgun designs ever made. Folks who have a passing interest in the guns will probably know about both the […]

C93 Borchardt: the First Successful Self-Loading Pistol at RIA

November 29, 2015 Ian McCollum 39

Hugo Borchardt was a brilliant and well-traveled firearms designer. He was born in Germany but emigrated to the United States at a fairly young age, where he became engaged in the gun trade. He spent […]